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NCAAF Picks

Bet Tennessee Plus the Points vs. Georgia College Football

The Tennessee Volunteers haven’t had much success against ranked teams on the road in recent years, but their still an attractive option to back against the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens Saturday.

Life On the Road
Tennessee will close out its only two-game road trip of the 2014 campaign, as it looks to bounce back from a 34-10 setback to the Oklahoma Sooners as 21-point underdogs on Sept. 13, while going UNDER the betting total for a third consecutive contest.

The Volunteers have dropped their last 20 games against ranked opponents when playing away from Knoxville, with their last such win coming against the Bulldogs in 2006.

Over the last two-plus seasons, the program is 1-12 SU and 5-8 ATS when getting points, with the OVER going 8-4 in that situation.

Racking Up the Yards
Georgia welcomed back just six offensive starters from a year ago, but the unit is averaging 48.7 points after three games, which has been made possible by a rushing attack that ranks second in the Southeastern Conference in gaining 304.0 yards per game.

Heisman Trophy candidate Todd Gurley is the main player to watch in this matchup, as he’s averaging 9.8 yards on 41 carries, while he also set a school record with 293 all-purpose yards in the team’s season-opening win against Clemson.

College football handicappers will find that the squad is 6-0 SU and 4-2 ATS as favorites of 10.5 to 21 points since 2012, with the UNDER going 3-2-1 in those six opportunities.

Youthful Look
The Volunteers have played 22 true freshmen under second-year head coach Butch Jones, which is important to consider when making your Week 5 college football picks, as that number is the highest in the country in that category.

Tennessee enters this season as the only team in FBS football that didn’t return a starter on the offensive or defensive line, but Jones has done a masterful job of preparing his youngsters.

A true indicator of this group’s poise in the early going is the fact that Tennessee is the least penalized team nationally.

A Close Series
The Bulldogs are worthy favorites in this matchup at Sanford Stadium, but their last three wins in this series have come by eight or fewer points, including a 34-31 overtime victory as 13.5-point road favorites last year.

Georgia has also failed to cover the number in six of its last seven tries against conference opponents playing with revenge, while Tennessee is 3-0 ATS in this series when receiving 13 or more points on college football odds.

Prediction
I’m going to recommend that readers back the Tennessee Volunteers as one of their Week 5 college football predictions, as they’ve gone 6-2 ATS in their last eight games against the Bulldogs.